Falling Slowly and Desperately Feigning
by PhoenixVanGarrett
Summary: AU. Ava is determined to find out what happened to her parents and in the process she is reassigned to Levi's unit, but Levi has some secrets that might be connected to Ava's parents. Meanwhile, Katya befriends Ava all while showing Commander Erwin just how precious life is. Levi/OC and Erwin/OC. Rated M for sexual content in later chapters and for general explicit language.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm so excited to write this story. It'll be Levi/OC and Erwin/OC. PLEASE review and give me your opinions and critiques. As a writer, the more enthusiastic the readers are the more I enjoy writing it. Thank you so much and I hope you enjoy**

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1

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Ava sat on the bench outside of the temporary office Commander Erwin had acquired on the Scout Regiment's visit to Military Police's headquarters. She tapped her foot impatiently awaiting her turn for annual inspection. This was generally the only time members of the Survey Corps could move up in the ranks or get reassigned to different squads, so naturally she was a little nervous.

As she watched each of her friends enter and exit the room before her she began to realize that this inspection was different from their first; aside from it being the first inspection since officially joining the Scout Regiment. The expression on each of her comrades' face's seemed slightly perturbed in their own ways. But no one would speak on it as if they were instructed not to say a word.

In that moment, her good friend, Connie Springer, came out of the room with an excruciatingly more drastic expression of discomfort slapped on his face. Connie had a way of exaggerating even the smallest of things in a way that was almost comical to Ava. She forgot that every once in a while and it was always refreshing in these dark times. "Ava!" He said, shivering over to her like an old man.

"What?" She laughed, startled by him suddenly grasping her shoulders.

"It's not Erwin, Ava!" He began to explain as some soldiers with Military Police patches on their jackets came to calm him down and keep him from causing a scene.

"What?" She asked again, now in confusion. The couple of soldiers grabbed him and began to drag him off and out of the hallway, both obviously irritated with his noise.

"Levi! It's Corporal Levi!"

"Ava Brandt." The soldier standing by the door announced. Her heart sank in shock as she heard her name. Why was he doing the inspection and not the commander? She hated it when her instincts were right. It usually meant something bad. And why did she have to be next?

Quickly and dreadfully, she opened the large wooden door, careful not to waste any of the captain's time by making him wait. She awkwardly leaned back against the door, alarmed with the feeling that it may have closed behind her way too quickly, and stared at him, anticipating some sort of response.

He sat lazily cross-legged behind the desk, pinching the bridge of his nose as he closed what looked like Connie's file, took a deep breath and continued to put it away. "Sit down." He said without even looking at her and continued to open the next file, her file.

Her eyes darted around nervously before hesitating to sit at yet another bench, placed against the wall directly in front of his desk. So she sat and waited once again as he scanned through her file. The silence had gone on longer than she was comfortable with and she watched anxiously while he studied the papers in front of him.

Female. Nineteen years old. Height: one-hundred-fifty-six centimeters. Weight: fifty-seven kilograms. Hair: red. Eyes: green. Date of birth: twenty-second of August. Ranked fifth in her class, between Annie Leonhardt and Eren Jaeger. Excels at 3DMG usage and cooperates well with comrades, but has a strong disregard for rules and struggles with focus. This was Ava Brandt.

Brandt. He recognized that name, but couldn't exactly place it.

Ava was adopted by the Leonhardt family at the age of five after her parents dedicated their lives to joining the Survey Corps. At the age of twelve, both her mother and father were reported missing in action. She ran away from the Leonhardt's household soon after.

Slowly, he began to connect the dots and froze as he suddenly remembered. He stared up at her, hoping to disprove his suspicions but it only confirmed them. If memory served him right, she was the spitting image of her mother.

He took a second to compose his thoughts on how to handle the situation. Just do as Erwin ordered.

"Why isn't Commander Erwin doing the inspections?" She said, interrupting his thoughts.

"Because he asked me to do them." He answered with a look that should have told her not to speak. But Ava didn't catch on.

"Isn't this part of his job?" She never had the talent of hiding her thoughts or suspicions.

"Do you always speak out of turn?" He said, desperately holding back his annoyance. Springer had already tested his patience enough; he didn't need her to add to it. But he knew the consequences of his actions and it wasn't worth it, not today.

She got the hint this time and shrugged back like a scolded dog, but she was still curious. There was something the captain was hiding and that rubbed her the wrong way. Unfortunately, she knew it wasn't her place and she would regret it if she asked any more.

"Stand." He ordered, putting down her papers and moving out from the desk to confront her. She immediately stood in position with her hands held firmly behind her back and her stance wide and strong. He was impressed as he analyzed the strength exuding from her posture, despite the obvious opposition in her expression. "You lived with the Female Titan as a child." He said straight to the point.

"Yes, sir." She should have known this would come up. Now that she thought about it, this was probably the whole reason they were at the Military Police's headquarters. The capture of Annie was still so recent and now they were most likely dealing with the legal matters of how to handle her, under whose watch she should be, and what should become of her. She supposed it would be logical, from their point of view, to be suspicious.

"Did you know?"

She hesitated. "No." She never knew. Annie never told her. They weren't close in the way the sisters would be. Annie's father kept them in constant competition. All of her life, as far as she could remember, they had always been competing against each other. Life is a battle and someone has to be the winner. That's what their father had taught them, but Ava was never fond of that lesson. It just seemed too barbaric to live in constant rivalry with anyone they met, treating everyone like an enemy. She wanted to believe that the world was different. Annie never did. She easily accepted that reality and embraced the combatant mindset that it required. Every once in a while Ava would see a different side to her, a lighter, warmer side. But those times were so rare, it was easy to forget them. Annie was strange and distant for the majority of time that they were together. With the things she'd say and the way she'd react to situations, looking back at it now she supposed she did know; if only subconsciously at the time.

He watched her control slowly vanish as her eyes flickered in thought. After a moment, he turned back to pick up her papers and write something down. "Starting tomorrow you'll be reassigned to my unit."

"What? Why?" She asked in protest, finally releasing her professional stance.

"As it stands, you are one of the best soldiers we have," He said, calmly turning around, "and as someone who has such a personal history with the Female Titan, I'm sure you can see our reason concern."

She could feel her anger getting the best of her, but she couldn't take the idea of being reassigned to his squad for an absurd reason such as that. "You can't seriously believe,"

Suddenly, he gripped the base of her ponytail between his fingers and pulled her back. She winced in pain and looked up at him staring back down at her. "Believe that someone with so much of a connection to a Titan could be dangerous in the wrong hands and therefore needs to be placed under close watch?" He said sharply, only inches from her face. "Yes, I can believe that, and I shouldn't have to fucking explain that. What I can't believe is how big your mouth is." Slowly, he held her hair higher so that she could stand almost normally. "You need to learn control."

"Control?" She instantly questioned in defense, skeptical of his authority on that matter.

He sighed, retightening his grip and yanking her down again. "Control of your emotions and your ability to express them with discretion. People can be easily manipulated if they give you the right clues. You wouldn't want something like that to accidentally slip because you lacked the self-control." She determinedly held eye contact with him, despite her crippling realization of what he had said. She knew she lacked control in many aspects, but nothing could convince her to admit it; especially to the person who told her so. His grey eyes were intimidating and sharp belying the energy that seemed to be absent behind them. She also realized then that she was wrong. He seemed to be in complete control of his actions, which made her a little uneasy. It was increasingly more difficult to hold that connection and she squirmed and winced from his grasp that tightened with each move she made. Just slightly, he released his grip to lessen the pain in her scalp and brought her up to face him directly. His gaze was now even more intimidating, but she stayed relatively strong. "I'm your commanding officer now," He reaffirmed, "and you answer to me only."

"Yes, Heichou." She stuttered obediently.

He finally let go of her hair and walked back to his desk. "Prepare for travel. We'll head back to Headquarters soon." She waited, stunned from what just happened and watched him carefully as he adjusted himself and the papers in front of him for the next inspection. "You're dismissed." He said when he realized that she was still there.

Quickly, she turned on her heel and exited out the door with her head down. She didn't look up to see the people around her as she walked. She just continued to her temporary quarters to do as her new captain ordered: pack.


	2. Chapter 2

2

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Katya looked out the large window that spanned over the length of Wall Sina as she slowly, carefully, and clumsily placed one foot into leg of her uniform pants. She hated being trapped behind the walls and dreamt every day of her few adventures on the outside. She relished those memories like they were the meaning of life itself. Quickly, she tucked in her shirt and began to unravel her 3DMG straps. The faster she got ready, the faster she could get out of this palace of a place. Suddenly, there was a knock on her door, followed by the door itself opening. Luckily she had already been behind the dressing screen. "Father." She scorned. "How many times do I have to tell you that a knock needs to be followed by an answer before being opened?"

"All of these formalities have no sense of urgency." The general began on a spiel. "Suppose there was an attack, would the formalities still be of importance then?"

"It's not a matter of formalities. It's just good manners."

"Besides," He continued, "you're already decent."

She stepped out from the dressing screen in shock of her father. "How did you know that?" She said in frustration and dropped the tangled straps from her hand.

"You thought I didn't know about your habit of sneaking out and fly around on the Garrison's spare equipment?" He looked at her cleverly from under his brow.

She sighed, accepting that she had been caught. "Well, if my personal gear hadn't been confiscated I wouldn't have to borrow one of the spares." She said proudly.

A smile crept onto his face as they exchanged mischievous, taunting stares. "I need you to run an errand for me today."

"And this is an errand that you can't do yourself? I'm not sure regulations allow me to be doing your work for you"

"I'm busy." He waved off. "I've got mountains of paperwork to do." She could tell he was lying and squinted at him in suspicion.

"General Pixis." One of the guards announced. "You have a visitor."

"Show him in."

"Yes, sir."

Katya watched as the guard left and eyed her father with even more suspicion.

"Put on the dress that your mother bought for you and meet me downstairs where I'll give you your mission." She groaned, rolling her eyes and turning back to her armoire as her father quickly shut the door behind him. Her father was so strange at times. She didn't bother trying to understand.

She hated dresses and Mother always chose them so lavishly. She held it up against herself and stood in front the mirror. It flowed voluminously from the waist and was decorated with light drapery that was pinned together with a small bow here and there. The short sleeves fell loosely against her shoulders and connected with the neckline. Reluctantly, she stepped into it and accidentally tore the embellishment sewed to the bottom. "Oops." She muttered. Overall, once it was on, the dress actually wasn't horrendous; just annoyingly feminine.

She stared once again in the mirror and began to analyze. Why would she need to wear something like this just to run an errand? Her father was up to something and she didn't like it. But she's learned that his schemes are generally unavoidable.

* * *

Pixis strolled down the vast hallways of the mansion that Generalissimo, Darius Zackly, had assigned to him and his family. The place was a bit extravagant for his taste, especially considering the state that the rest of the city was in; but what could he do? It was Zackly's decision and not his place to question it, so he might as well enjoy it while he can.

At the end of the corridor, Erwin Smith stood statuesquely waiting to be greeted. He found the commander's constant professionalism humorous.

"Good evening, General Pixis." He said with an attempt at the requested casual greeting that cause him to visibly adjust the tension out of his body.

"I wanted to congratulate you on capturing the Female." He said, leading Erwin to the desk in the next room where they could chat and motioned to the armchair for him to sit.

"Thank you, sir."

"It's a job I would have been honored to do myself. And I hear you've found a soldier that may have information on the Titan?"

"Yes, sir. A member of the scouts. She graduated in the same class, just under its rank. Within the next month she will be reassigned to Levi's unit."

"Very good." He laughed and sat behind the desk that was, in fact, piled high with paperwork. "Now, I've called you hear so that you could retrieve some paperwork, but it seems that I have not yet finished it." He opened his hands to display the extensive stacks of paper around him. "My lovely Katya." He said dotingly as she entered the room and held out an envelope for her to take.

Erwin turned to see her standing with her gloved fingers interlaced, waiting patiently for instructions on her task. He stood formally to welcome her into the room and gave her his full attention. She looked beautiful. Her strawberry blonde hair was elegantly pinned up and her dark golden eyes seemed to sparkle as they looked back at him.

The general looked awkwardly between the two and continued his original train of thought. "Since you are here, Erwin, would you mind escorting my daughter to the East Brigade's Courier's office and back?"

"Sir?" He asked, nervously in protest.

"Yes, Commander?"

Erwin deliberated the importance of arguing with the general and decided to obey. "Of course." He said, with a small feeling of defeat.

The general smiled as he watched Erwin walk over and offer his arm to Katya. She glared distrustfully back at her father as the two of them turned to begin his errand.

* * *

They walked side by side, down the open, cobblestone road in silence. Erwin glanced down to her, hoping to be subtle enough that she wouldn't notice. She just barely reached his shoulders, even at the highest bob of her steps. Despite her protest, she appeared very graceful at times; and then there were times where she didn't. She was like the enigma of a ballerina with horrible balance. The ironic analogy of someone who would perform such a strategically composed act and execute it beautifully, yet trip in her bows described her perfectly. Going for a walk with her was the last thing he was expecting to do this evening. General Pixis sure had a way of placing him in unexpected situations; not that he minded. He quite enjoyed Katya's company. She had a way of making the most boring tasks interesting.

"I suppose I should thank you for accompanying me." She teased, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"It's no trouble at all, Miss Pixis."

She sighed loudly. "Always so polite, Erwin. Please, for hundredth time, call me Katya. It's the least you could do." She said with a tauntingly raised brow.

He smiled, careful not to lose an ounce of his militaristic poise, and continued to walk forward without an answer. Their pace was slow and steady, allowing him to be constantly aware of his surroundings and ready if something were to happen. He took his orders very seriously, no matter the request, and as it seemed, protecting her was his current mission.

"After all, if it weren't for you my gear wouldn't have been confiscated."

"Confiscated." He restated in disbelief. "I would phrase it as self-destructed."

She gasped with sarcasm deeply infused. "He does have a bite."

He glanced down to hide the light grin that crept across his lips. "As I recall you seemed to cause a lot of trouble that day."

"You forget how much I contributed to that battle." She scorned lightly.

"My apologies." He corrected. "You were a great asset to the team and I'm sure you would have been a greater asset if you had been authorized to be involved instead of taking it upon yourself to join the battle on a whim."

"Well," She said, jumping around to walk backwards and face him as they approached the Courier's office. "As I recall, if it hadn't been for that whim, you would be dead." She said, poking at his chest.

He stood stunned as she practically skipped to the office's window and dropped off the envelope. He watched her bounce on her toes and reach to shake the hand of a desk new worker. Her positivity was beyond confusing to him. He didn't understand how someone could know so much of the world, experience the terrors of it first hand, and still be able to show the kindness and liveliness that he saw from her every day.

Although, she looked slightly less chipper as she returned to him. "I wonder what was in that envelope. It seemed important" She said, deep in thought.

He wondered too. Pixis was a curiously secretive man who always had at least some plan in the works at all times and Erwin was never comfortable being on the outside of information. But Pixis was good at what he did and by this time he had learned that no matter how hard he tried to figure him out, there was always something he'd miss.

Soon they came to a canopied walkway with rows of pillars on each side. "Look!" She said and hurried to the thin, stone fence between her and the courtyard. On their left was a large, intricate fountain that poured sparkling water out of multiple valves. The light from the sun danced across the steady ripples made by each stream of water. As he looked out, he found the sky being chopped off by the buildings that surrounded the courtyard. "Isn't it beautiful?" She said, standing on the edge with her feet between the railings and leaning over to get as close as she could. Erwin looked back up to the sky and joined her at the edge. It radiated orange and yellow from the sunset that shaded the clouds with a light purple. It was beautiful. Only she could stop long enough to notice it and to focus hard enough to overlook the sporadic ruins that still lay demolished in the distance from the capture of the Titan. He was sure that she saw them. She had to, but she didn't seem to be bothered.

"Your brain is a curious one." He muttered in amazement.

She quickly unpinned her hair as if she had been waiting all night for it and swinging her head around to face him. "What does that mean?"

"How can you live every day with such freedom?"

She looked into his eyes and spoke in a soft, compassionate voice. "When you live in a world where freedom isn't an option, you begin to find it everywhere." His heart fluttered as she finally gave a light smile and turned back to gaze at the sky. He didn't understand her at all, but all the same, he was glad of her ability to temporarily distract him from the stresses that came with his position. He admired her with her lightly colored locks of hair floating gently from the wind. Suddenly remembering his sense of duty to General Pixis, he cleared his throat and repositioned his stance, suggesting that they head back.

Katya swung herself around, raising an eyebrow at him, and sighed as she hopped off of the railing and joined him. They walked the rest of the way home leisurely and mostly quietly as the sky finally transitioned into the twilight.


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

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Ava sat quietly in the mess hall, eating her stew and bread and dwelling on her reassignment. "Ava!" Sasha said, interrupting her sulking. "What's wrong with you?"

"What happened at the inspection?" Connie asked warily.

Ava sighed, hesitant to say. "I got reassigned."

"What?" Both cried out in unison.

"To where?" Sasha continued.

Ava muttered her response bitterly.

"Huh?" Connie said.

"Levi's squad." She muttered again.

"What?" They cried out again.

"You're leaving us for him?" Connie accused.

"It's not my choice!" Ava finally argued back.

The group was quiet.

"They suspect me because of Annie." She said in a hushed sigh.

Sasha growled in anger.

"We'll get you out." Connie suggested desperately as his brain began to turn the dusted cogs to come up with a sly scheme.

She laughed. "No. You can't get me out. It doesn't work that way and you know it."

He groaned and threw his arms up in frustration. "Then what are we going to do?"

"Nothing. I don't need you two idiots causing any more trouble. I already have enough of it."

Both gasped in offense.

"Look." Ava began seriously. "I don't know exactly what's going on or what's going to happen, but Levi said that they're going back to Headquarters soon."

"So?" Connie asked, still frustrated by the whole thing.

"So, why would they leave at a time like this? That doesn't strike you as weird?"

He stared at her and tried to figure it out. "Ohhh." He finally said with a blank look on his face.

"You still don't get it." She asked dully.

"No."

She looked to Sasha, who seemed to be beginning to wrap her head around the idea.

"There's something they're hiding." Ava continued uncomfortably.

"Of course there is." Sasha said bluntly.

She looked down at her plate. Sasha was right. It's the military. Of course they're hiding something. She supposed there wasn't much point in worrying about it. Secrecy was a common trait in the government and she was nowhere near a high enough rank to make a difference. Still, she didn't like the idea.

* * *

The hallway was dark despite the light of day that shined through the archways. It had an odd mixture of temperatures from the cold of the stone walls to one side and the warmth of the sun on the other. She just couldn't quit dwelling on her reassignment. Sure, she'd admit that she was slightly excited to be a part of Corporal Levi's unit. After all, he was one of the most legendary soldiers in the whole military. But at the same time, it was Corporal Levi, and he had a reputation that she couldn't stand. Perhaps she was just angry that he got rough with her, so in return, she was blaming him for her reassignment; but to be honest she knew she was just confused and hurt and it had nothing to do with him. She hated the idea of leaving Sasha and Connie. They've been with her from the start and it was frightening to suddenly have to come to terms with the separation. She'd known that they could be separated at any moment. It was a dangerous world and they made a dangerous choice of occupation. But the idea of a temporary separation almost felt worse than the possibility of a permanent one. "Ava!" A cheery voice interrupted.

She looked up to see a woman trotting towards her from a run. "Do I know you?" The woman was lightly tanned with light hair that almost had a subtle hint of pink. She instinctually took a step back as the woman approached her in irritation of yet another person being taller than her.

"I've been looking all over for you. There's so much to tell you and so little time."

"What?" She asked as the woman put an arm around her and guided her in a different direction.

"My name is Katya. I'm in Levi's squad."

"Oh." She said hesitantly to this strange woman.

"I was sent to tell you that we'll be leaving within the next hour."

"What?"

"You've had your inspection?"

"Yes. Yesterday."

"Of course." She said, exasperatedly. "Well, that was close timing but they made it. You were supposed to be officially reassigned days ago, but Erwin and his formalities insisted for it to be done as per usual. We're so excited to have you on the squad."

"Really." She doubted slightly.

"Oh yes. Well," She paused and rethought on her statement, "I'm not sure those would be the exact words, but yes."

Ava eyed her questionably. She wasn't helping to calm her nerves about the situation. "That's comforting." She commented.

Katya glanced at her awkwardly, not knowing how to fix what she had just said. She knew Ava would be with the squad for a long time and was determined to befriend her. Naturally, those who were left of Levi's squad weren't the friendliest. They've been through a lot and rebuilding wasn't going to be an easy task. But she already liked Ava and desperately hoped that she would be a good starting point. "I want you to understand that you will still see the other cadets of your class."

Ava looked up to her with a sheepish attempt at hiding her surprise.

"Though it might not be often. Recent events have forced us to look for new members." She said grimly. "So, the cadets from your graduating class will go through a sort of training again to test their capabilities. This will also be good training for you, but as far as I know it won't be required." She paused again to correct herself. "Unless Levi decides otherwise."

"Great." She muttered.

"Oh he's not so bad as long as you take your missions seriously. His bark is worse than his bite." She glanced to the side, debating whether or not the last statement was entirely true and shoved the thought aside as they continued to walk briskly to Ava's room where she could gather her things.

It didn't take long before Ava had everything packed onto the horse, but to say she was ready would be far from the truth. As soon as these horses took off she would officially be in Corporal Levi's unit, the most famous unit in the entirety of Survey Corps. She had no idea of what to expect in her new unit, be it the mission or the atmosphere and she was sure it'd be nothing like what she was used to. Although it did give her some level of comfort to know that there was a possibility to see Sasha and Connie again.

She looked at Levi on his horse from where she was placed towards the rear center. Despite his height, at the front of the pack he looked almost regally superior to the other soldiers. Reality had been setting in for the past few minutes as she waited to begin the trip to Headquarters, but this was the peak of it. Levi glanced back at the few of them to see if they were all in place and ready. He looked directly at her as he scanned over the soldiers. His look was dauntingly flat and impossible to read, making her nerves build up once again.

Before she could console those nerves, the horses took off as he gave the order. This was it. The unit reassignment was now official and there was no going back.


End file.
